You Didn't
by StarWarrior72
Summary: When Luke's birthday rolls around, he is surprise to get a gift from his father, for the first time in his life. My way of saying a special happy birthday to a friend!


_Luke?_ Vader's mind prodded gently at his son's.

In his quarters on the _Falcon_, Luke blinked awake. _Uh? Father? Wait a second… what do you think you're doing in my head? _Luke asked in alarm.

_I apologise. Were you asleep?_

_Sort of. I like to do that at night._ Luke snapped half-heartedly. _What are you doing in my head?_

_It is not night where I am. I do apologise._ Vader repeated, Vader continued to ignore his son's question.

_Yeah. Whatever. I'm awake now._ Luke had learned from his teachers that if a Force sensitive didn't answer a question quickly, they probably wouldn't. He forgot about trying to find out what his father was doing.

Luke felt his father's smile._ That's true. You are._

_What do you need, Father?_ Luke asked, hoping to get himself back to sleep.

_Your security really is terrible._ Vader warned his son gently.

_What's that supposed to mean? Did you really wake me up just to tell me that the Alliance's security isn't par with your expectations?_

_Look under your bed._

For one desperate, sleep blurred moment, Luke was sure that he would find his father there. When he realized that it was a ridiculous notion, probably some leftover part of whatever dream he couldn't quite remember, he rolled over and looked under the bed. Sitting there, somehow managing to look both innocent and ominous, was an unmarked, brown box.

At Luke's confusion, Vader ventured cautiously, _It is your birthday, is it not?_

Luke laughed, and heard Chewbacca shift in his quarters off to the right of Luke's. He calmed his friend's sleeping mind and returned to his father.

_We're at war, and you've sent me a birthday present?_

Again, he felt Vader smile._ It may, or may not, have anything to do with a certain Chris Derik who is amongst the most recent members of the Alliance._

_You sent me a birthday present, and you're telling me who one of your spies is?_ Luke asked incredulously.

This time, Vader didn't respond with words, just a strange warmth. Luke basked in it for a few moments before his father gently prodded,_ Go on, open it._

Suddenly slightly wary, Luke opened the box. Siting inside was a black piece of cloth. Taking it out, he found that it was one of his father's capes._ Father?_

_I used to enjoy having something of your mother's with me at all times. I stole an old shirt from the laundry once, and when she found out, she gave it to me as a gift. I still have it, safe, where no one can every find it._

_Oh._ Luke responded, looking at the cape in his hands.

_If you do not feel the same, the material is expensive, and it wouldn't be too hard to sell._

Luke continued to gaze at the fabric. He let it flow through his hands, starting almost to pool on the mattress. He could feel his father's consciousness, suddenly in his mind. Looking at the odd, black puddle of fabric, he picked it up again, and brought it up to his face, breathing in the smell of his father's quarters. It was harsh, metallic, and didn't smell much like anywhere he could imagine calling home. Beneath that, however, was something else, something more human, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

_Thank you, Father._

_Look in the box._ Vader instructed, and Luke could feel his father was glad to finally share a moment with his son.

Vader smiled as he sensed his son wrapping the cape around his shoulders like a blanket, keeping him warm in the cold of the night. Luke looked into the box again, and saw several more items. He picked up the credit chip, only to get it out of the box. As he moved it, he was surprised to see how much it was worth._ Five million credits? Father, are you sure you want to give that kind of money to the Alliance?_

_I'm not giving anything to the Alliance. I'm giving it to you. I must admit that there is no doubt in my mind that the money will find its way into the Alliance, but I am giving it to you._

Deciding that the thank-yous were becoming rather too repetitive, Luke simply smiled, sure that his father would sense it.

He reached into the box for the next gift. Out came a small holograph projector.

_Activate it._

Luke did as he was told, and smiled again as a small image of a couple appeared before him._ You and Mom?_

_Correct._

_What was her name? Aunt Beru said she didn't know._

_Padmé Amidala._

_I've heard of her._ Luke said suddenly.

_I'm sure you have. Many consider her to be one of the first rebels. She told me, just before you were born, that she thought the Republic was falling apart, becoming corrupted, and the peace we had fought for had become a lie._

_Father,_ Luke asked hesitantly_, Father, what happened to her?_

For a moment, there was a burn, as though he had stabbed himself with a knife, then, _I do not wish to talk about it. Not on your birthday, Luke. This is supposed to be a happy day for you._

_But you will tell me someday? You promise?_

_I promise. Someday, I will tell you. I do not dispute that you deserve the truth._

_Thank you._ Luke regarded the small image, gazing into his parent's happy faces as they held one another. _You look so happy._

_We were._

_I'm glad. Somehow, I've been afraid that your life was always terrible._ Luke confided sadly.

_It was not perfect,_ Vader admitted,_ We were at war, after all. It was hard to sneak time to see one another, but I have never been so happy as I was when I was with her._

_You still love her, don't you?_

_I do._

_Do you love me?_

_Yes._

_I love you too, Father._

_Jedi aren't supposed to love._

_Neither are Sith._ Luke smiled.

_True._ Vader felt his father give what would have been a shrug, had they been speaking to one another's faces.

_My, aren't you just the best example for me?_ Luke teased cautiously.

_You have no idea._

_Oh dear…_

_You sound like Threepio._

_What did you do, Father?_

_Let us simply say that, for an enforcer, I have a surprising disregard for the rules._

Luke grinned._ Why doesn't that surprise me?_

_Because you are exactly the same._ Vader told him, matter-of-factly.

Luke laughed as quietly as possible. _Yeah, I guess I am, aren't I?_

_You are. There is one more thing in that box._

Luke peered into the box. _Uh, Father? Perfume? Are you teasing me?_

_No, of course not. It is the perfume your mother wore. Although you will want to hide it from your pirate friend._

_Oh._ Luke took the top off the bottle and breathed in the scent._ It smells wonderful._

_Your mother always smelled of that. That perfume, soap, and usually, when I saw her at least, blaster fire._

Luke smiled, _Of course._

_Sounds familiar?_

_Yes._

_Shocking isn't it? How similar our lives have been, when we grew up in such different times. The same droids, even._

_You had an R2 unit? Moreover, you had a _protocol droid_? _Luke asked with another gentle laugh.

_I built the protocol droid._

_Really?_

_Between the ages of eight and nine, from scrap behind my master's store._

_Wow! What did it look like?_

_Oh, you know him quite well._

_Are you…? No way. That'd be ridiculous._

_I am, and it is, isn't it?_

_You built Threepio?_

_Yes._

_And Artoo?_

_I did not build Artoo, but I knew him quite well._

_Do you think he remembers you?_

_I am not certain if Artoo remembers me, but I am sure that Threepio has been wiped since. If your mother had anything to say about it, Artoo probably _does_ remember me._

_This is crazy._

_Life is crazy, my son. I am surprised you have not yet learned this._

_Yeah, me too. You'd think after all the crazy things that happen to me every day, I'd be used to it by now._

Vader just smiled._ Hide that perfume now, Luke. I am sure that you can find ways to explain these things away, but I am unsure that you wish to._

_True._ Luke stood and walked over to his dresser. He was aware of his father's gentle presence in his mind._ If you think that you're going to learn the Alliance's location from just the inside of my quarters, I hope you're ready to be disappointed._

_I do not wish to do something like that. Besides, you are on the _Falcon_. The inside of that ship will tell me nothing._

_True._ Luke thought back, tiredly.

_I do apologise for waking you up._

_I already said it didn't matter. Usually by this time there's been some kind of emergency._

_I'm keeping them at a minimum today._

_What? Oh, you can do that?_ Luke asked as he suddenly understood.

_I can't give you a perfect day's peace, but many of my men wish to be with their families today anyway._

_Of course._ Luke finished hiding the tiny bottle in an odd sock and stuffed it to the back of the drawer, careful not to break it. Then he walked back to the bed and pulled his father's cape around his shoulders again.

He felt a gentle caress on his mind, _Sleep now, child. I-_ But Vader couldn't say it. The words were right there before him, begging to be said, but he couldn't bring himself to.

_I'm awake now._ Luke repeated his words from earlier in the morning.

_If you are certain. Do you wish me to stay with you?_

_Yes, please._

_Are they taking good care of you?_ Vader asked, sounding concerned.

_Yes. They always do._

_Not particularly. Not if I could so easily have a spy plant something under your bed. It could have been a bomb, and the whole Alliance could have been destroyed._

_Your own security isn't exactly perfect._

_While I won't deny that you have made it in further than I would like, you have never successfully infiltrated my quarters._

Luke smiled._ Look under your desk, Father._

_You didn't…_Vader's jaw dropped.

_Oh, yes I did._

_This is ludicrous._

_We already talked about how life is like that. Go look under your desk._

_Why?_

_Happy Empire day._

_You don't celebrate._

_You do, don't you?_

_Not really._

_Oh. Well, I didn't know that. Really, go look under your desk._

_You're ridiculous, you know that._

_Under your desk._ Luke prodded.

_All right, I'm going, I'm going._ Vader walked to his desk and pulled a small brown package out from under it. Sitting inside it, was a small teddy bear.

_Luke?_

_I don't know. I just saw it, and something felt right about giving it to you._ Vader was certain that his son was blushing._ And then it occurred to me that Empire Day was coming up… and… I don't know. Maybe I'm just going crazy._

Vader took the bear out and held it in his massive gloves. It looked out of place in the dark starkness of his quarters, but as Luke had said, somehow it felt right for him to be there. Sitting in his hands, it was an odd monument to his son's innocence.

_Do you like it?_ Luke asked nervously, as though he did feel in some way that it was right to have given it to his father.

_Very much. Thank you, Luke. How did you get this into my quarters? I told you about my spy, it's only fair to tell me._

_I had a day off yesterday. I just thought I'd sneak in._

_Is that what the alarms were about?_

_Yes. Who would have thought they'd be so distressed by a few wamp rats._

_You set wamp rats loose in my ship?_

_Don't be such a sissy. I got them all back out._

_I am not being a sissy, in your childish words. I merely wish to know that the wiring of the ship is safe from them._

_Yeah, they didn't get into anything. I was very quick. Change your security code, Father, it's terribly easy to guess._

_Only to the two of us._

_And the Emperor._

_He has override codes. He has no need of the security code._

_Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense._

_It does indeed, my son._

_Where are you now?_

_It does not concern you._

_Clearly, it does._

_If it is so important to you, I am on route to Coruscant._

_What are you going to be doing there?_ Luke asked.

Vader sensed concern from his son. _I will be reporting to the Emperor. He is quite displeased that I… missed you. He will probably ground me._

Luke snorted laughter._ If I didn't know that that can mean two things, I would be so confused right now._

_Grounded? _Vader asked in confusion.

_Yeah! You know. _And then, after a pause, _You do know, don't you?_

_I do not know._

_It's something parents do. If their kid misbehaves, they're grounded. It kind of varies for everyone, usually something along the lines of no holonet and no going out after a certain time. Or just plain not being allowed out of the house. It normally lasts about a week._

_I see. I suppose I'm not really in a position to ground you?_

Luke laughed again, _No, not really._

_I was afraid of that._

_Just out of curiosity, what exactly would you ground me for?_

Vader thought for a moment, _Running away._

_Really? You have that huge list of crimes I've committed, and yet you'd chose running away?_

_As a father, yes. As an Imperial, I would probably have to hold you responsible for the rest anyway. I don't think that I can use the law against you on that._

_I think you could, actually._

_What do you mean?_

_Well, thanks to that huge list, it counts as resisting arrest._

_That's true. It does. In that case, I would choose your frightening levels of disrespect._

_I don't disrespect you!_

_You honestly believe that._ Luke felt sure that his father was crossing his arms.

_Of course I do!_

_I'm sure._

_I'm not kidding! I really do. I just don't listen to you. That's something else entirely._

_Is it now? _Vader asked sarcastically.

_It is!_

_I suppose you would know._

_Yeah, I would._

_You are an imbecile, Luke._

_And you're just the king of the obvious, aren't you?_

_Perhaps._

Luke grinned, and wrapped himself tighter in the cape. For something so silky, it was deceptively warm.

_Father?_

_Yes, Luke?_

_I'm tired now._

_Sleep. I will remain with you until you are asleep._

_Thank you, Father._ Luke curled up under the cape, and then drew a blanket over himself as well, to hide it.

_Sleep well, little one._

_I'm not that little._

_You are to me. Now sleep._

_Yes, Father._

_Now why couldn't I hear that more often?_ Vader asked gently.

_Because then it wouldn't be special. I love you. Goodnight._

_Goodnight, my son._

Luke fell asleep, still feeling his father's gentle caresses on his mind.


End file.
